Keep Breathing
by ahtlolevad72
Summary: Tag to Berlin 10x20. Tony and Ziva share a hotel room and maybe something more. May be rated T for violence in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

When Tony got out of the shower, drying his hair with a towel, he noticed the Ziva-shaped lump on the side of the queen sized bed they were to share. He set the towel down gently and gathered his strewn belongings up from around the hotel room. Slipping his socks off he slid into bed as well. The mattress creaked slightly and he fidgeted around for a bit trying to get comfortable.

"Could you stop that?" said a terse voice to his left. Tony jumped a little.

"I thought you were asleep." He replied. "Sorry I didn't mean to wake you." He clicked off the light and rolled over so they both faced opposite directions making sure to keep a nice foot-sized gap between them. Tony was trying his best to be extra-gentlemanly towards Ziva. She was fragile right now and he did not want to upset her further. His throat felt scratchy and he coughed a little. He shifted again trying to be quiet and rolled onto his back with a soft "ah."

"Must you keep doing that" Ziva sighed sounding annoyed.

"This bed is not exactly comfy." He whined.

"Would you prefer the floor?" She asked sounding slightly amused.

"Fine" Tony huffed as he flipped yet again onto his side rustling the covers and grabbing his pillow. He closed his eyes and was finally falling into the abyss of sleep when a loud sigh awakened him.

"Now I cannot sleep" Ziva groaned sitting up and flicking on the light resting on the night stand next to her. Tony did the same and reached for the TV remote. He began flipping through the channels on mute as Ziva reached under her pillow for her sig and began to dismantle it carefully. The opening pointed ominously towards Tony's torso.

"Do you have to do that?" He grumbled eyeing the gun.

"Do you have to do that?" She emphasized gesturing at the remote with a piece of her sig.

"Most people find watching a TV show relaxing when they can't fall asleep." He pointed out.

"Well, I find this relaxing" She stated simply.

"Well do you have to point it at me?" He asked agitated, tension emanating through his voice. She flipped the front of her gun towards the wall instead and gave Tony a piercing look of annoyance.

"Happy?"

"Yes." Tony said content as he stretched his arms and put them behind his head. Ziva gave a short, sarcastic laugh and continued to gently clean her sig.

-NCIS-

A half an hour later they both lay more slumped in the bed. The lights had been turned off and Ziva's gun was back under her pillow after a thorough clean. The TV was softly playing an old black-and-white film that Tony was very interested in.

"Awh Ziva this is the best part." He said excitedly before looking over. The Israeli was asleep, breathing deeply, her mouth slightly open. One arm was under her pillow and Tony assumed her hand was tightly wrapped around her gun, ready for any surprise attack. But Ziva's other hand was curled right under her chin. Tony smiled and turned off the TV. The room was pitch-black and he rolled over letting sleep over take him.


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: Forgot to put one last chapter. I don't own NCIS if I did I would be watching Berlin right now. _

_Authors Note: This is not really a speculation fic because I'm pretty sure none of this will happen. It'll be more fluffy with a little hurt/comfort thrown in. I'm not going to write a confrontation about the fact that Ziva told McGee first I'm pretending that has already happened. Thanks for your support especially those who reviewed already. You made my day! Oh! And I should have Chapter 3 written sometime tomorrow. It all depends on how much free time I have in AP Biology class. _

"Who's crying?" Tony thought as his sleep-fogged brain pulled him from his slightly unsettling dream that had something to do with him trying to stuff Gibb's boat out of an increasingly small door. Tony knew that crying. The sound of it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up straight. He rolled over and supported himself on his elbows. Ziva's whole body was shaking and she was emitting little heart-piercing sobs. For a second Tony debated leaving her. He had read somewhere it was worse to wake up someone having a nightmare because they were more likely to remember the dream. A particularly heartbreaking cry changed his mind and he tentatively moved his hand to rest on her shoulder. "Ziva." He said, softly shaking her. "Ziva." He said more forcefully as he shook her a little harder.

"NO!" The shout was load and desperate. Tony barely had time to react before his sweet, furry, innocent Israeli's hand shot to his throat and he had a sig pressed to his head.

"Ziva!" He yelled "It's me ZIVA!" Her eyes were wild and bits of sweaty hair were stuck to her face. She was breathing hard and fast like she had run a marathon. Her grip was so tight Tony was having difficulty breathing. Her eyes reached his and she seemed to suddenly realize what she had done. Her face turned from fear to shame as she quickly released him. "Jesus!" he said massaging his neck and he slid his back up to rest against the headboard. Ziva was sitting up as well knees curled up to her chest. One hand was pinching the bridge of her nose and her other hand was loosely gripping the sig. Her face was scrunched up eyes chut tight. Her breaths were still coming hard and fast. He reached out to touch her shoulder, but stopped not wanting to startle her again. "Ziva." He said softly. "Are you alright?" She mumbled something softly under her breath. "What?" Tony said. She continued to mumble

"Hashem ta'azor lee. Hashem ta'azor lee." Hebrew. Ziva was praying. Tony was not what you would call religious. His mother used to bring him to church every Sunday, but after her death his father had never continued the tradition. He wasn't even sure if he believed in God. So when he awkwardly clasped his hands together and closed his eyes he had no clue what he was doing.

"Hello God. Um I'm not sure if you can hear me. It's Tony. I know it's been a while, and you could probably care less what I have to say. Frankly I'm not sure if I believe in you anyway, but I know Ziva does. She deserves better than this. She deserves a family and the chance to be happy. So maybe just let her have some peace okay. Give her peace and let her know that I can help her. Let her know that it's okay for her to be weak sometimes and…"

"Tony." He opened his eyes to see Ziva looking at him with wide, curious eyes. She looked innocent with her face illuminated in child-like fascination. "What are you doing?" she asked confused.

"Praying."

"Oh." There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. "Tony. I… I'm very sorry about your throat" She avoided his gaze; her voice full of guilt.

"You know after my Mom died I used to have these horrible nightmares." Ziva continued to look around the room eyes finally resting on the opposing wall. Tony continued. "They were awful. I would wake up screaming. Sometimes I even wet the bed." Ziva smirked and Tony laughed a little. "I can't believe I just admitted to that. Don't tell McGeek."

"I will not."

"He'd never let me hear the end of that one" Ziva smiled and sunk lower in bed wrapping the blankets tightly around her until they reached just under her chin. She looked exhausted. Tony got under the covers again as well. They both lay face down in silence for a few moments until suddenly Ziva grasped Tony's hand and squeezed it.

"Thank you …Tony" Ziva whispered

"Of course" And with that she let go and curled up on her side again. Tony mirrored her as they lay back to back just like before with the foot-sized gap between them. There was some rustling of covers and Ziva moved closer so there was barely and inch between them and Tony could feel the soft warmth radiating off her back. It was nice being close to her. He closed his eyes again and willed sleep to come.

_Authors Note: I hope you liked it. It was much harder to write than I expected. Especially Tony's prayer. I think there was too many transitions and too much I wanted to get done in this chapter. Chapter 3 will be more fluffy and full of Tiva banter. Feel free to critique. _


	3. Chapter 3

Tony awoke to light streaming in through the blinds and the comforting smell of baked goods and coffee. The space beside him was empty. Ziva must have already gotten up. He yawned and stretched. After a few minutes of shuffling around the room tidying his still strewn belongings, he sleepily wandered out of the bedroom. They're room was a nice suite with a small kitchenette and sitting area complete with a flat screen. Tony shifted his gaze to the sitting area. Ziva was standing on a yoga mat arms outstretched, knees slightly bent. She had ear-buds in and she hadn't noticed Tony yet. Ziva twisted stretching her back.

"I bought breakfast." Ziva lilted testing the air. Tony pulled his eyes away from her rather seductive yoga pose and spun around to see coffee and a muffin sitting in the center of the table.

"Thanks" Tony called grabbing the coffee, knowing that this was Ziva's attempt at thanking him. Tony took a few sips. "Ahh. Almost as good as American coffee." He grabbed the muffin and sidled over to the sitting area. Dropping into a floral print chair, he watched Ziva's routine. "Breakfast and a show." He teased, chewing on his muffin. She gave him her best death glare. He shot back his winning Dinozzo grin and starting at her well-shaped legs drew his eyes up her body. Ziva's straightened up and popped out her ear-buds still shooting him dirty looks.

"I do not often do yoga. I was… tense." She explained. Tony's smile faltered a little as he remembered why they were on this mission. Ziva adjusted her shirt and slipped over to the window. She used her fingers to peer through the blinds, surveying the streets below.

"My contact says Bodnar will not come out until dark. He knows people are looking for him and he will not give away his position easily. She knows of a few clubs that he frequents, but we cannot stake out there until later. I think we should spend today preparing and possibly getting in touch with Gibbs and McGee. Bodnar has not been using his cell phone or credit cards, but McGee may have an idea of something else we can use to track him." She continued to peer out the window for a few seconds after her monologue. Then she turned to face Tony giving him an expectant look. He noticed the tension in her shoulders as well as the determined fiery eyed look that he rarely saw on her face.

"Alright" He replied "Gives me a lot of time to decide what to wear tonight."

_Authors Note: Sorry for the short chapter. Next one will be the bar scene! Who's excited for the Berlin promo tomorrow! Please R&R I love feedback._


End file.
